"Two big brothers, long time no see..."
When Yan Liqiang jumped off the carriage, the two soldiers at the gate of Huanglong County's craftsman camp widened their eyes, as if they could not believe that the person walking in front of them was Yan Liqiang.
But after Yan Liqiang's greeting, the two soldiers finally reacted.
"Ah, Master Yan, Master Yan is here..." The two soldiers suddenly became enthusiastic and hurried over.
A few months ago, when Yan Liqiang was in the Artisan Camp, he was very popular and everyone liked him. Later, when everyone in the Artisan Camp heard that he had won the top three in the Qinghe County National Martial Arts Examination and entered the Pingxi County National Martial Arts Hall, they were all happy for Yan Liqiang. The two soldiers did not expect that Yan Liqiang would come to the Artisan Camp again in such cold weather.
"Brothers, I bought some things and put them in the car. Can you please help me take them down..."
"Okay, okay..." The two soldiers laughed and came to the back of the carriage with the coachman, opened the back door, and took out all the things that Yan Liqiang had placed in the back.
There were four large wine jars, each weighing fifty kilograms. The outside of the wine jars were tied tightly with ropes as thick as straw, just like a net bag, tightly tied - in this era without foam and plastic, this was the anti-collision packaging of these wine jars during long-distance transportation. Although it was crude, it was very effective. Although there were some bumps along the way, the wine jars were still intact.
These four jars of wine were specially bought by Yan Liqiang from Pingxi City. He asked someone to deliver them to the boat, and then he took the boat to the Huanglong County Wharf and hired a car to bring them over.
"Ah, Yu Luochun..." After taking four jars of wine from the carriage, one of the soldiers moved his nose and immediately smelled the faint aroma of wine outside the jars.
"I know that the brothers in the Artisan Camp like to drink. This time, I didn't bring anything else but four jars of Pingxi City's specialty Yu Luochun from Pingxi City for you to try. You can drink it tonight, which is just right for warming up everyone..." Yan Liqiang laughed.
"I didn't expect that Master Yan still remembered us..." Hearing that Yan Liqiang had taken the trouble to bring wine from Pingxi City to visit everyone in the craftsman camp, the two soldiers were extremely happy and moved.
"Ah, of course I remember, how could I forget!" Yan Liqiang said, and was about to pick up the two jars of wine.
"Master Yan, let's come, we just need to come..."
"Brothers, please don't be polite. It doesn't matter who takes it!" Yan Liqiang said, holding up a jar of wine in one hand, and then walked towards the craftsmen camp with two soldiers. "By the way, is my uncle Qian here?"
"Of course he is here. Supervisor Qian has just returned less than an hour ago and has not left yet..."
"Why, Uncle Qian hasn't gone to the county town to have fun these days, has he?"
"We dare not answer Mr. Yan's question. You can ask Qian Yingjian yourself when you see him..."
"Ha ha ha ha… "
Not long after walking into the craftsmen's camp, they met a few familiar soldiers. They were a little surprised to see Yan Liqiang coming, but when they saw what Yan Liqiang was holding, they knew that it was a gift from Pingxi City that Yan Liqiang brought for everyone. They instantly became enthusiastic and quickly took the jar of wine from Yan Liqiang's hand. The group of people happily welcomed Yan Liqiang inside.
"Master Yan is back. Master Yan is back to see you..."
Several soldiers were shouting as they walked, and many people in the craftsman camp heard them. They ran out and greeted Yan Liqiang, making good-natured jokes.
"Ha, the top three of our Qinghe County National Martial Arts County Examination are back..."
"I don't know how many wives Master Yan has mentioned, hahaha..."
After fighting with intrigues and dangers in Pingxi City for several months, Yan Liqiang came to the craftsman camp again. Looking at those enthusiastic, warm and simple faces, he really felt like seeing his relatives. An inexplicable warmth was flowing in Yan Liqiang's heart. Yan Liqiang also greeted everyone with a bright smile.
After a while, they arrived at the camp, but did not see Qian Su in the yard where he lived. After asking, they found out that Qian Su was in the coal yard of the craftsman camp. Yan Liqiang asked someone to put away the wine, and without notifying anyone, he walked towards the coal yard.
The Artisan Camp was a big consumer of coal, so there was a place to store coal. Not far from the Blacksmiths' Courtyard, the Artisan Camp built a large warehouse for storing coal. That large warehouse was called the Coal Yard. The Coal Yard was on the edge of the Artisan Camp, and it was quite remote, so no one had heard anything from this side.
When he arrived outside the coal yard, before he went in, Yan Liqiang heard Qian Su's roar.
"Wang Defa, what the hell are you doing? You can even bring in this kind of coal. Look, of these 500,000 catties of coal, half of it is broken into pieces like sand, and the other one-third is yellow and brown. You tell the fire room how to use it. It's okay if you have some oil on your hands. I turn a blind eye. I know exactly how much oil is in every 10,000 catties of coal, but I'm too lazy to tell you. Do you think I've spoiled you? You're getting bolder and bolder. You dare to use this coal to fool me. Do you really think that the knife of my battalion supervisor can't kill people, huh?"
Just by listening to the voice, Yan Liqiang seemed to be able to imagine Qian Su's angry face. In the craftsmen camp, although Qian Su usually did not put on airs, everyone in the craftsmen camp was afraid of him.
"Master Camp Supervisor, I am innocent!" A voice screamed with tears in its voice, "Even if I have the guts to do anything in front of you, you know that every winter, coal is in short supply everywhere. A few days ago, the mountain collapsed over at Xiaolong Mountain, so the coal can't be transported out. Not only can the county's coal supply be cut off all of a sudden, but the price is also rising. A month ago, the price of 10,000 catties of good coal was only 8 taels, 3 qian and 5 fen of silver. Now, the price of 10,000 catties of good coal has risen to more than 10 taels of silver, and you may not even be able to buy it!"
"The coal stored in several coal depots in the county was ordered to be transferred to Pingxi City for emergency relief two days ago. Several uncles in the government office said that Pingxi City, where the county magistrate is staying, must not be short of coal. The people in the county can't use it, so they can burn firewood, cow dung, and straw. The remaining coal was snatched from Boss Guo by me with the sign of the craftsman camp. The price is still the old price. Boss Guo has the account flow and records. You can check it out. You will know what the price of such coal is in Huanglong County now. If I, Wang Defa, don't have this sense of propriety and take a penny of the money from these coals, you will chop off my hands. I will never blame you..."
"According to what you said, I must have wronged you. Then tell me yourself, how do you use these broken coals, which are like sand, in the fire room?"
"We'd rather leave the coal here than run out of stock. Otherwise, the stove in the fire room won't light up. My lord, you'll chop off my head. If it doesn't work, my lord, just give the coal to me and I'll find someone to sell it at the original price..."
"Well, leave it there for now, and let me take a look..."
Yan Liqiang stayed outside the coal yard for a while, until the two people inside finished their conversation. Then he coughed outside and walked in.
"Uncle Qian, Manager Wang..."
The two people standing in the coal yard turned around at once, both of them were a little surprised, especially Qian Su, who had hardly expected that Yan Liqiang would appear here.
“Master Yan…” Wang Defa, who had just been scolded by Qian Su, forced a smile on his face when he saw Yan Liqiang.
"Ah, Li Qiang, why are you here?"
"I haven't seen you, Uncle Qian, for a long time, so I came to see you!"
(End of this chapter)